Battery management apparatus and operating method thereof

Abstract

A battery management apparatus includes a cell balancing unit connected to a battery cell and performing balancing of the battery cell, an auxiliary cell balancing unit connected to the battery cell and performing auxiliary balancing of the battery cell, a voltage dividing unit for generating a divided voltage by dividing a voltage of the battery cell based on a temperature of the cell balancing unit and applying the generated divided voltage to the auxiliary cell balancing unit, and a controller for controlling the cell balancing unit based on the generated divided voltage.

1 . A battery management apparatus comprising:
 a cell balancing unit connected to a battery cell and configured to perform balancing of the battery cell;   an auxiliary cell balancing unit connected to the battery cell and configured to perform auxiliary balancing of the battery cell;   a voltage dividing unit configured to generate a divided voltage by dividing a voltage of the battery cell based on a temperature of the cell balancing unit, and apply the generated divided voltage to the auxiliary cell balancing unit; and   a controller configured to control the cell balancing unit based on the generated divided voltage.   
     
     
         2 . The battery management apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the cell balancing unit comprises a first resistor and a first switch,
 the auxiliary cell balancing unit comprises a second resistor and a second switch, and   the cell balancing unit and the auxiliary cell balancing unit are connected in parallel to each other.   
     
     
         3 . The battery management apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the voltage dividing unit
 comprises a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) resistor and a third resistor having a resistance changing based on a temperature of the first resistor.   
     
     
         4 . The battery management apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to short-circuit the first switch when the generated divided voltage is less than a preset value, and open the first switch when the generated voltage is equal to or greater than the preset value. 
     
     
         5 . The battery management apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the NTC resistor has a temperature corresponding to the temperature of the first resistor. 
     
     
         6 . The battery management apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the voltage dividing unit is further configured to apply the generated divided voltage to the second switch. 
     
     
         7 . The battery management apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein any one of the first switch and the second switch is short-circuited based on the generated divided voltage. 
     
     
         8 . The battery management apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein a resistance of the first resistor is equal to a resistance of the second resistor. 
     
     
         9 . The battery management apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to control an operation of the cell balancing unit based on the voltage of the battery cell. 
     
     
         10 . The battery management apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to control an operation of the cell balancing unit so that the temperature of the cell balancing unit is not equal to or greater than a preset value. 
     
     
         11 . The battery management apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary cell balancing unit is further configured to perform auxiliary balancing of the battery cell when the temperature of the cell balancing unit is equal to or greater than a preset value. 
     
     
         12 . An operating method of a battery management apparatus, the operating method comprising:
 performing, by a cell balancing unit of the battery management apparatus, cell balancing of a battery cell;   generating a divided voltage by dividing a voltage of the battery cell based on a temperature of the cell balancing unit;   applying the generated divided voltage to an auxiliary cell balancing unit of the battery management apparatus;   performing, by the auxiliary cell balancing unit, auxiliary balancing of the battery cell; and   controlling the cell balancing unit based on the generated divided voltage.   
     
     
         13 . The operating method of  claim 12 , wherein the cell balancing unit comprises a first resistor and a first switch serially connected thereto,
 the auxiliary cell balancing unit comprises a second resistor and a second switch serially connected thereto, and   the cell balancing unit and the auxiliary cell balancing unit are connected in parallel to each other.   
     
     
         14 . The operating method of  claim 13 , wherein the controlling of the cell balancing unit based on the generated divided voltage comprises:
 short-circuiting the first switch when the generated divided voltage is less than a preset value, and   opening the first switch when the generated voltage is equal to or greater than the preset value.